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Simply take a single strand of your hair (with no product in it) and place it in a glass of room temperature water. After 15 minutes, if the strand of hair has submerged in the water, you have mid-high porosity hair. If the strand is still floating, you likely have low porosity hair. Porosity matters because it will affect how you care for and style your hair. Or, we may even consider our scalp type or how thick or thin our hair is.
What Is Hair Porosity, And Why Is It So Important For Hair Care? Experts Weigh In
Blow drying, bleaching, straightening, overwashing, and using harsh products can all damage your hair over time. This can cause your hair cuticles to become raised and open, which may make it harder for your hair to retain moisture. Hair porosity is your hair’s ability to absorb and retain moisture. This affects how well oils and moisture pass in and out of the outermost layer of your hair, known as the cuticle.
Chemical Treatments and processing
Diaz-Santin describes these cuticles as tightly bound, which makes it hard for anything to penetrate inside with ease. Your hair more often than not looks shiny and slick—similar to the cuticles themselves. Since product absorption isn’t easy for low-porosity hair, you may experience product buildup and grease, as products are sitting on top of the cuticle instead of penetrating the hair shaft. In high-porosity hair, the cuticle scales are open and lifted, exposing tiny holes and crevices along the strand. Highly porous hair is super permeable; it absorbs moisture like a sponge and releases it just as quickly, says David Adams, a trichologist and co-owner of Fourteenjay Salon.
When should I do the hair porosity test?
Mind that hair porosity is not directly linked to hair type, so doing a porosity test is a must. Read on to understand how high or low porosity hair behaves and choose the right strategies for nurturing and styling your locks. You may find that your roots are low or medium porosity, whilst your ends that have seen straighteners, bleach and more may be high porosity. If this is the case you should always treat your hair for the highest level of porosity it has.
What causes low or high hair porosity?
Hair porosity affects how well your hair responds to hair care ingredients. Knowing your hair porosity will help you understand what products you need. Product recommendations depend on how high or low your hair leans (or floats in a glass of water). If your strand floats closer to the top of the glass, Diaz-Santin advises protein-rich products. If your strand of hair floats closer to the bottom, go with a buttery, oily product like Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Mask.
What Does Your Hair Porosity Tell You?
It consists of several overlapping flaps that resemble scales or roof shingles. In addition to hair treatments, too much ultraviolet exposure can also increase the porosity of your hair. To protect your hair from the sun, wear a hat or some type of head covering when you’re outdoors. So, to better understand what hair porosity means, how you can determine which type you have, and how to cater to it, we tapped three experts. Below, they break down everything there is to know about porosity so you can achieve your best hair ever. On the other hand, low porosity hair will absorb less water and other substances, leading to a smaller increase in weight when wet.
Knowing your hair porosity can help you make sure you’re keeping your hair properly moisturized and prepared to handle any style. Chemical processing (like hair color or relaxer) and daily styling (from heat, or friction from brushing your hair) chip away at the structure. “When you damage the cuticle layer, you’re putting holes and abrasions on the surface of the hair, which creates more crevices for water to enter and exit,” says Douglas. Wear and tear accumulate with length, so those #LongHairGoals compound porosity, especially at the ends. “Hair grows half an inch per month, so shoulder-length hair can have five to six years’ worth of damage,” Adams says. While the strand burn test can provide valuable information about hair porosity, it is not recommended for home use as it can be dangerous and can also cause damage to the hair.
What Is High Porosity Hair—and How to Treat It - Real Simple
What Is High Porosity Hair—and How to Treat It.
Posted: Wed, 06 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
What Affects Hair Porosity
The ongoing challenge for this porosity type is to get the cuticles to lift just enough for proper water and product absorption. Just like the pores on our face, warm steamy environments can encourage the cuticles to lift and stay open long enough to apply your favorite products. If you have low porosity hair, apply your styling products in a steamy shower once the water is turned off. When a deep conditioning treatment is needed, opt for hot oils treatment or arrange a hair spa using a hot towel or a home hair steamer for best results. Hair porosity is the term used for your hair's ability to absorb and retain moisture. Hair porosity is determined by how open or closed the hair cuticles are.
This makes it hard for moisture to penetrate the cuticle and reach the cortex. However, on the other hand, this hair doesn’t lose moisture easily once you use the right hair products on it. For those with high porosity, Taylor says it’s important to condition it with high-protein treatments that will restore moisture and strengthen the strands. There are some DIY methods, like rinsing with rice water or a chickpea hair mask. Taylor also offers a keratin-rich Deeper Than Hair Resurrection Masque on her website.
To know the correct way to treat your hair, it is important to determine your current hair porosity. This will also help you select the best products for your hair and apply them the right way. The other way to test is to simply run your fingers down a hair strand to feel its texture and hair porosity.
15 Products for Low Porosity Hair in 2024 - PureWow
15 Products for Low Porosity Hair in 2024.
Posted: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Although you see little to no immediate damage when coloring or applying heat to your curls, over time, just as with any hair type, damage and breakage can occur. If you have low porosity hair, just like the floating strand at the top of the water glass, it means your curls experience difficulties absorbing moisture. This is said to be true for not only water but also oils, gels, and creams.
Once your hair is dry and clean, pluck out a precious strand (don't worry, it will grow back) and drop it in a bowl filled with water. If you have high or low hair porosity due to genetics, you may not be able to change it. However, according to hair care experts, there are things you can do to make your hair healthier, more manageable, and easier to style. With low porosity hair, the cuticles are tightly packed and very close together.
Your hair’s cuticle layer is more “open” and raised than in low porosity hair, but the difference is slight. Your hair doesn’t absorb moisture and products quite as readily as high porosity hair, so what’s left on top of strands builds up over time and dulls your hair. One way to do this is to take a clean strand of your hair (you can pluck a piece from your hair brush instead of ripping a piece from your head) and drop it into a glass of water. If the strand sinks slowly, then the hair has a normal porosity level. If it sinks to the bottom right away, you have high porosity hair that’s drinking up the water.
This nourishing hair mask envelops hair in intense moisture to repair damaged strands and renew softness. Because of this, most hair care products are made with different hair types in mind. There are products for fine hair, curly hair, thick hair, and many more. With high-porosity hair, the best thing to feed your curls is protein and a good hair oil. Protein contains properties that aid in strengthening and reviving otherwise brittle hair cuticles.
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